Redeem
by Seriesaddict1
Summary: You can't just erase four years of your life. Post 4x22.
1. Chapter 1

SCORPION - Post 4x22 - Redeem.

 _ **Ok, so I promised myself I wouldn't do any writing until my exams were done (sorry about that by the way I kind of disappeared from here without saying anything) but then I was so angry about the end of season 4 that I had to do a little therapy fic. I honestly lost faith in the writers, I know there doing this for the cliffhanger but this last scene in the garage felt so out of character for everyone. Like who would have thought that Paige would break up with Walter so coldly in front of everyone else? Anyway, I promise once I'm done with my work there will be a lot of other fics, and a lot of Gravity for those who follow it, because I need to get some writing out of my system.**_

 _ **Enough with the talk, enjoy this story !**_

 **Paige POV**

The interview went well, and I know that « _Team Scorpion 2.0 »,_ as they call it, has some very… valuable asset but I'm very confident in _Centipede._ I mean we have three geniuses, they only have one, and even if they have Cabe for the smooth talk, well they have me, and judging from the looks the guy interviewing us gave me, I'm guessing he prefers a woman's touch.

 _«_ We'll be in touch soon. I had some other pretty skilled candidates for this job but I have to say your team is in a very good position. _»_ he declared before shaking our hands (not without a look of disgust from Sly but luckily the guy didn't seem to notice).

 _«_ Thank you, we're looking forward to it! _»_

So it's pretty satisfied with ourselves that we turned around, ready to leave his office. And what was my surprise when I saw that he was still on the couch in the waiting area.

 _«_ Walter? What are you still doing here? _»_

« I uh… I need to talk to you. And since you won't return my calls I figured I had to use this… opportunity. »

It was still painful to see him this desperate, even if I played the tough one, but I wasn't sure I was ready for that talk yet.

« I don't have time Walter, I came here with Toby and Happy and they have an appointment with the adoption agency. »

« Then let me drive you home. Please Paige, just give me a chance to say what I have to say, I won't ask you to react or anything I just… can't keep it all to myself any longer. »

« You didn't seem to have a problem keeping your little night with Florence for yourself. »

I saw that these words hurt him and I almost felt guilty for pronouncing them. But he hurt me first after all.

« I… deserved that. But come on Paige, you can't avoid me forever and just erase four years of your life, our life. I know I can't. »

Well, I'd better agree to listening to him before another conversation gets too out of hand in front of the others, whom I saw pretending they didn't hear every single word in the corner of my eye.

« Okay. Let's go. »

Walter seemed surprised, but he quickly grabbed his jacket and followed me outside, without giving a look to the others when I told them that I would see them later.

The ride was very silent, which left me with a lot of thinking. These past two weeks hadn't been as hard on me as the ones after the end of my others relationship, and until now I didn't understand why, because as angry as I was I knew that Walter was the man I had loved the most. I still loved him to be honest. Just like he said, I can't erase four years of my life just like that. And now I understood that if I didn't cry myself asleep every night since I told him that we were done, it wasn't because I was sure of my decision and ready to move on, oh no. It was because first of all I had buried myself into work with the new company, trying to convince myself that it was only for the purpose of helping Centipede, when in fact it was probably to avoid thinking too much about Walter, and most of all, it was because I didn't process the fact that it was over. I understood that now, riding in his car and looking at the concerned look on his face. I may have been the one ending things, but my subconscious was just assuming that we would get over it and eventually find each other again in the end. Because isn't that what we've done since we met? Pushing each other away when we both knew that we belonged with each other?

It suddenly hit me how hard I had been on him. I didn't tell him that I needed time to think, or that we should take a break. I told him that we were done. And of course I had every reason to be angry, but maybe this had gone a little bit out of hand, and I wasn't sure I could go back. I mean what if he started seeing Florence? She clearly stuck with him from what I saw earlier, and she admitted that she had feelings for him.

Oh god, what have I done? I felt like all the tears that I felt so guilty about not shedding were coming up just now, as I realized that maybe we were not going back together.

« Uh we're here. »

Walter's voice took me out of my thoughts and I wanted to answer but my throat felt very dry and no words could come out of my mouth. We got out from the car and when we arrived at my door, I didn't know what I should do.

« Do you mind if I come in with you? I'd really like to talk to you. » he said with a really calm voice.

It worried me how calm he was actually.

« Walter are you dating Florence? »

I know it's stupid, but I really needed to know. I had to prepare myself for what was coming.

« What? Of course no! I can't believe you… »

He made a gesture with his hand to stop himself, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

« Paige I'm not here to fight. I just have things I didn't get the chance to tell you. So now, can we go inside? »

I nodded and I unlocked my door, my hand a bit shaking holding the key. It actually had been a while since Walter and I hadn't been alone together. Even before we broke up things were not so good between us and we spent most of our last nights as a couple apart. Now I was afraid that the tough cover I tried to build myself would crumble and that I would fall into pieces in front of him.

« Do you want me to make coffee? » he asked gently as I sat down on the couch.

« No thanks. Just… Tell me what you have to say Walter. »

He came to sat down next to me, not to close so we wouldn't touch, but enough so that I could smell his perfume.

 **Walter's POV**

I managed to stay pretty calm until then, but now that I finally got to say what I prepared in my head for two weeks, I felt a knot in my throat and it really seemed like a huge physical effort to open my mouth.

« Well first of all, as I said, I won't ask you to answer me anything. You told me that I… that I didn't satisfy you, and even if I could try harder to meet your needs, I can't change how you feel, and most of all I can't change myself. But I want you to understand that… this feeling isn't shared. I know that I didn't show you enough, and I know that… you have some insecurities coming from you past, I should have taken account of that. But Paige, you are… well you were more than enough for me. Our relationship was far from perfect, but you were everything I needed you to be. I don't need someone with a higher IQ, my entourage is full of people with whom I can talk about physics and… theories and… Hum actually _was_ full too but… that's not the point. I'm sorry if I made you feel otherwise but you are an incredibly smart person and also the only one I can talk to about… everything else. And I'm sorry I was so clueless about Florence. You were right, I knew something was wrong in what I did, it made me sick not telling you. But it made me even sicker to think that I could hurt you and it clouded my judgement. And I also had no idea that she was developing feelings for me. I never saw her as more than a friend, like I see Happy you know. And I don't understand why she fell for me. Hell I don't even understand how someone as incredible as you could have fallen for me in the first place. I know it doesn't change what I did, but since you have history with men not… giving you the attention they should, I wanted you to know that it has nothing to do with you. You have nothing to be insecure about, because you're so beautiful, and you're smart, and funny, and an awesome mom and… I promised myself I would never make the same mistake Drew made, and that I would never take you for granted, but I guess I'm just a moron. But I need you to know I meant it, when I said you were the love of my life. You still are. And you will always be. »

I said all that in almost one breath, and I felt exhausted in the end. I kind of wanted her to answer something but I told her that I didn't expect her to, so I got up.

« I also think that this little war between our companies is silly. And I'll retire from any job interview I have in common with you. Cabe can still make us work for Homeland and I'm actually the only one on the three that really needs the money since the other two already have a job. I'm not ready to talk to Sylvester, Toby or Happy yet, but I wish you well. Oh and tell Ralph that I hope he's not too mad at me for screwing up, and that I love him. »

I couldn't bear looking her in the eyes so I had my head down the whole time and I didn't see her reaction at all. I thought it was better to keep it this way, so I turned my back and was ready to leave when I felt her grasp my wrist.

« Wait. »

I froze, but didn't turn around.

« Walter I… » her voice broke and I understood that she was crying. So I went back to sit next to her, a little closer this time. I didn't say anything, I didn't know what I could add. I just let her take her time before she finally talked.

« I didn't mean it when I said you didn't satisfy me. I was angry and there was just… such a lack of communication between us when I worked so hard to not make that a problem. I'm just so tired Walter. Tired of us wanting this to work but not managing to do it. »

« I know. Me too. I still think you're worth the effort though. We solve impossible cases as a job, I hate to think that the one we failed at is the most important of them all. »

« Because we're not a case. Not every problem has a solution. »

I felt uncomfortable, because I didn't understand were she stood. So I figured I should make my own position clear.

« Paige I don't want to force you into anything, but I'd really like to... redeem your trust and… maybe give us another shot. »

I finally met her gaze, and even if her eyes were wet, and she sure wasn't smiling, she looked soothed.

« We have a lot to work on, you know that right? »

« I'm ready to give myself full time for this. I know I can do better. I can go further than an emotionally fifteen. I love you Paige. »

« I know. I love you too. For who you are, even if I made it sound like I wanted you to change. You just… Don't put all the blame on you, we have to work on both sides. »

I felt a big weight off my shoulders. Things were going to be okay. It might take us a long time, but we were going to be okay.

« Can I… can I hold you? »

Without answering Paige just curled up against me, passing her arms around me and burying her head into my neck, and I held her as tight as I could, so I would never have to see her go again.

 _ **There you go. I didn't put it with my other one shots because I kind of want to develop this into a multi chapters fic, what do you think?**_


	2. Chapter 2

SCORPION - Redeem chapter 2

 _ **Thanks a lot for all your reviews on the first chapter. I see we all need some soothing. Riley B. Smith posted an adorable message on Instagram, made me want to write Ralph a little in this chapter. I'm guessing this story will be 4 or 5 chapters.**_

 **Walter** **'s POV**

After a while staying here, on Paige's couch with her in my arms, I figured that I should probably go. I didn't want us to pretend nothing happened, we had to learn from all this so we wouldn't make the same mistakes again. And we had to do this slow.

At the beginning of our relationship we both agreed that we had waited too long and that we could burn steps because we both knew what we wanted after all this time. Well I see how it was a mistake now. By assuming that we we had been ready for this for years, we forgot that being a couple wasn't the same as being friends, and we neglected communication. Eventually we ended up hurting each other to a point of almost no return.

So even if I desperately wanted to stay with her all night, hell I wanted to take her to her bedroom and demonstrate her how I worshiped her and how she fully satisfied me, I had to be rational about it.

"I have to go home Paige. I'll see you around, so we can talk more okay?"

She looked disappointed, but she nodded.

"What should I tell the others?"

"Nothing. It wasn't any of their business in the first place, and it still isn't. God I can't believe they dropped me like that, after everything I've done for them."

Paige straightened up a little on the couch.

"So you think it was wrong of them to take my side."

"Yes. I mean not **your** side, but to take **a** side. I think we've established that the blame goes both ways. Besides, can you remember us meddling this much in Happy and Toby's private matters? They didn't call me in two weeks Paige. Acting like they never going to talk to me again over something that should have stayed between you and me. And I still think that Sylvester overreacted. Anyway, please don't involve them in this. Not until we're really good."

"Okay."

I could tell she wanted to say a lot more than 'okay' on this matter. But this wasn't our top talk priority, and I appreciated that she simply agreed.

Paige got up and when we were at her door, I started to look at her lips, but I knew that if I went that way I wouldn't leave this place anytime soon. So I just dropped a kiss on her cheek.

« See you tomorrow? »

« Sure. »

And even if I still had a little knot in my stomach, I turned my back to go to my car. Before I could open my door, I heard her voice again.

« Walter? »

I looked at her and saw she took a few steps in front of her doorway.

« I missed you. »

I couldn't help but smile at this. The first genuine smile I had for a while.

« I missed you too. »

And the heart lighter, I went back to the garage. On my way I thought about all the possible endings I imagined for this conversation. This was by far the best. I was still a bit angry against Paige, and I'm sure she's still a bit angry against me too. But I knew that this talk wasn't the one to bring that up. We had to establish that we both wanted this to work before starting pointing each other's share of the blame. It was a shame that events like this had to happen for me to develop my EQ, but I really think I'm making progress.

When I arrived, I saw that Cabe was still hanging out around my desk.

« Hey. Not home yet? It's not like there is a lot to do here these days… »

« Oh good you're back. How did it go with Paige? »

I realized that he'd just been waiting for me to ask me that, and probably to be there for me in case I went home with a broken heart again, and it made me feel so grateful to have him. Cabe was now the only constant in my life, and I knew that he would always be there, no matter what happens, and if the fault is mine or not. He knew what losing a family meant better than anyone else, and letting him back in my life four years ago was the best decision I had ever made.

« I guess it went fine. We decided to give each other another chance. We have a lot of talking to do but that's a start. »

« Great. I'm happy for you. »

I saw he wanted to tell me something else, but hesitated, so I pushed him a little.

« Is there anything I need to know? »

« Uh… actually yes. I talked to Homeland and they said that they want the whole team or no team. They consider that uh… everyone is valuable and you can't do everything by yourself. »

« That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I have the highest IQ of them all and myself alone is better than no-one. Besides I still have you, and Flo, you're helping me. »

« Walter they want Centipede and Scorpion 2.0 to collaborate on the highly sensitive cases. I talked with the rest of the team while you were with Paige. »

« I don't want anything to do with them unless they apologize to me. The ball is in there court. »

Cabe looked comprehensive and sad at the same time. I knew he would support me no matter what I decided, but he still considered the others as his family too. I know he was in contact with them, and he was trying to soothe things.

« You don't think I'm crazy for being mad at them right? I mean I'm ready to work on my mistakes, but come on… I've known Happy for fifteen years, I saved Toby from his gambling addiction, I gave Sylvester a home… And they all turned their back on me. »

« I don't think you're being crazy Walter. I just… I know that if the world's fate is at sake you can put the tensions aside to save it. It might actually help in fact, to work together again so you can remember how great a team you are. »

« They'll still need to apologize. I don't have to be the only one constantly questioning my behavior and always being wrong. »

« I know. And I agree with you, everybody needs to stop being so hard on you, including yourself. But one thing at a time, I'm glad you and Paige are better. If you take this the right way you can be really good for each other. »

« Yeah, you're telling me… Anyway, I'm exhausted, I think I'm going straight to bed, I'll see you tomorrow? »

« Sure Walter, go rest. »

 **Paige's POV**

Half an hour after Walter left, I heard the keys unlock the door. It was probably Ralph coming home from Sly's. I went to my doorway and I indeed saw my son, while Sylvester was still in his car and just waved at me before going.

« Hi baby, did you have a nice time? »

My son didn't answer me, I saw he was looking for something, or rather someone.

« He already left. »

« Oh… »

The look of disappointment in his eyes broke my heart. I didn't realize how selfish I had been burning all the bridges with Walter suddenly. Ralph had always looked up to him, and over the past year he acted even more like a father figure than he did before, and I denied him that.

« I know you miss him, but we talked, and it's going to be okay. He asked me to tell you that he loved you, and he hopes you're not mad at him. »

« I'm not mad at him. I'm mad at you. »

His answer left me agape, and he probably saw that it hurt me because he quickly added:

« I mean I still love you mom. But when I saw how you treated Walter I couldn't help wondering if… if one day I find my perfect match like Walter found you, she's going to want me to be different, and leave me if I don't change. Because you know Walter and I are a lot alike and… I don't want to end up alone. »

I didn't even think that my actions could impact Ralph this way. It's true that Walter is his role model, and I didn't understand it until now but he doesn't think he can succeed where Walter fails.

« First of all, I want you to remember that you are not Walter. It's true that you have a lot in common, a lot of great things, that I love, but Walter having an… emotional problem doesn't mean you'll have the same. Also, I'm ready to take my responsibilities, and we're going to work together to solve our issues so… you see everything's going to be fine right? »

He didn't quite seem convinced.

« I know that but my point is… you of all people should understand what it's like to have a relationship with a genius. You raised one and you spent every day with four others for years. So if you can't avoid having… issues, as you put it, with a genius partner, who can? »

« Ralph listen to me. Every relationship is different, but still every relationship has to overcome issues at some point. Sure, ours went a little… extreme, but it doesn't mean it can't work. And as I already said, you're not Walter, and your future girlfriend won't be me. But I'm sure she'll love you for who you are, as much as I love Walter for who he is, and in the end you'll see, it's worth it. »

This time he seemed more satisfied with my answer so I felt relieved.

« So anyway, does it mean I can see Walter tomorrow? I have a ton of catching up to do with him on some work and… »

« Of course you can. We'll go to the garage after school. »

Excitement had replaced disappointment in his eyes and it warmed my heart how happy he seemed all of a sudden. I don't know exactly why, but it made me think of the first time Walter came to my apartment, and played with Ralph. I remember as if it was yesterday the feeling I had, seeing this stranger being the first man to ever interact with my son. The feeling that things were finally looking up for me, and that this stranger was going to change my life for the better.

Well he did, and I may have lost sight of this for a moment, but promised myself I would never forget that again.


	3. Chapter 3

SCORPION - Redeem chapter 3

 _ **Thanks again to all the writers and readers of this community. Reading your stories / reviews really helps.**_

 _ **This story is definitely going to be 4 chapters, and then I'll star writing Gravity again. I miss it too much.**_

 **Paige's POV**

« So Paige, I'd like you to ask Walter something you never dared asking him. A question that you kept for yourself and that ended up playing on you insecurities. »

I couldn't believe we were actually doing that. I was very reluctant at first, because I always positioned myself as the one with the high EQ on the team, who gave advices, not received them. But I also thought that I was good at communicating, and yet everything that went wrong in my relationship with Walter was due to a lack of talking. From both of us. So here we were, at Toby and his weird psychiatrist, getting some couple therapy.

« I um… I don't really know… »

« Come on Paige. We've established before that your jealousy towards Florence was due to previous experiences. You also both said that if you communicated better, Walter could have clarified that his relation with her was purely platonic. I'm sure during this time you had questions, and you kept imagining the worst case scenario because you couldn't bring yourself to ask Walter, because you didn't want to be **that** girlfriend, as you put it earlier. Well now is the time for proper answers. »

« O-okay. Well I guess I did torture myself with some questions. It's silly but… »

« Don't worry Paige, I'll answer anything. » said Walter as he grabbed my hand.

It just had been two weeks since we decided to give us another chance, and since he asked me not to rush anything, I always hesitated before initiating physical contact with him. Also we didn't have sex since… god knows when and I was afraid that if I started touching him I couldn't be able to keep my hands off him. But at this moment, his touch soothed me, and it was good to feel that we were committed to this together, and not as two separated individuals.

The first session had been a lot harder, since we were asked to tell everything we blamed the other for. And if I already made pretty clear what made me snap in the first place, I wasn't ready at all for everything Walter told me. He stayed very calm, while explaining that he had been disappointed in how I gave up on him just like everyone ever did in his life after realizing that he couldn't be what everyone wanted him to be, and that I crushed the little hope I gave him that someone could finally love him for who he was, and a lot of stuff like this, that made me wonder if he should actually forgive me. But then coming out of the shrink's office, he kissed me on the lips for the first time since we started seeing each other again, and things were actually better between us since then. He was more careful, but not in the same clumsy way as when we first started dating, and he wanted to be the perfect boyfriend. No this time it was more mature and spontaneous.

« Well even if you told me numerous times that you never had feelings for Florence, and I believe you, I always kind of wondered if you… if you thought about what it would be like dating her. You know just… thinking about what you could do with her, and what your life would look like if you were together. Just hypothetically. »

Walter frowned and it was obvious he was thinking about a proper answer.

« Remember Walter, no white, or any form of lie in here. Just open, honest talk. » said the shrink.

« Then yes. I did. »

My heart skipped a beat hearing this, but not in a good way.

« Seriously Walter? How can I… »

« Can I elaborate my answer? »

I hated how calm he managed to stay in this kind of situations. It always made me look like I overreacted. Maybe I did sometimes, but still, he couldn't expect me to just wait for him to elaborate when he dropped things like this on me. But the therapist seemed to be with Walter on that one.

« Please do Walter. »

« Thanks. So… Of course, especially after my dream, I asked myself if it meant something. And since I've never been really good at… reading my own emotions, I asked myself if I was attracted to Florence, and yes I pictured what it would be like being with her. But the important thing is that imagining this gave me my answer right away. No I'm not attracted to her, and she might be a good friend, dating her would be an awful mistake. I already told you this Paige, Florence and I wouldn't make sense. And I don't want it to make sense anyway. Just… I know you don't like me to bring that on the table but… Just think, did you love me before dating Tim? »

« Yes. » I said almost inaudibly.

« And did you stop loving me while you were with him? »

« No. »

It was a fact. I may have tried to convince myself that I felt nothing but some friendly affection to Walter during that period, I knew now that I was in love with him the whole time.

« Well I can only assume that it's because you knew it didn't make sense. And it's the same here. Except I didn't date Florence, because I already knew what it was like to be with you, and that it was the only thing that actually did make sense. »

« Does it though? »

It escaped my lips, and cut Walter short from his explanations. I knew that we were going there one way or another, it was the foundation of all our problems. That terrible question, that we eliminated since the beginning but that never really stopped being in our heads.

« What? »

« You know I want this to work as much as you do Walter. But what if Collins was right? What if we're too different? Do we really make sense? »

I saw that he was hurt. We already had that talk, and it ended pretty well from what I can remember. But it was before everything happened, when we were still in our little bubble, or two people in love who had waited three years to confess their feelings. We didn't know back then what it would actually be like to almost live together, and try to find mutual interests every time we went on a date, so one of us wouldn't get bored.

« Well I can only speak for myself but… »

Before he could finish his answer, his phone rang in a tone that I knew oh too well. It was Cabe's ringtone, and since the Homeland agent knew that we were busy, it could only mean one thing…

 **Walter's POV.**

I was pissed that Cabe interrupted me at such an important moment of the session, but I knew he wouldn't disrupt this except for an absolute emergency.

« What is it Cabe? »

« We have a case, a big one. I'm on my way to get you at the shrink's office. Paige's coming too, I'll explain on the way. »

« Wait is this the kind of case where I have to work with Centipede? World's sake and everything? »

There was a silence and if I didn't hear Cabe's loud breathing in my hear, I could have thought that he hang up on me.

« Not exactly. Listen, Toby and Happy were made hostages during a Centipede case. The world's fate is not at sake, but their life is. They need you. »

At that point I had no choice but to forget everything that happened the past month.

« We'll se you in a minute. »


	4. Chapter 4

SCORPION - Redeem - Final Chapter

 _ **I intended to finish that story sooner but some crazy stuff happened to me and I couldn't write for a few day. Then it took me forever to finish the chapter, I don't know why I couldn't write more than a few lines at a time. Anyway here's the last chapter of this story, enjoy !**_

 **Walter's POV.**

« I guess… we owe you a thank you Walter. » the doc declared.

Of course I saved the day. They had sabotage themselves, and they would be dead if I wasn't here. Because that's what I do. With a team or alone. Well… not exactly alone. Paige was a great help on that one, and it was really nice to work so in sync with her again. Of course we did pretty impressive things with Scorpion, but for now she was the only teammate I needed. And because I saved their lives didn't mean I forgave them.

« I didn't do it for you. When a life is threatened I save it, no matter who it is. You don't owe me anything. Except an apology maybe. »

Toby opened his mouth, probably to throw something mean at me again, but Happy stopped him before he could.

« You're right. I think I can speak on the behalf of everyone here when I say we overreacted. And we clearly saw today that… I'm only gonna say it once Walt but, we can't do it without you. At least not as well as with the whole gang. So I can't promise that things are going to be all smooth right away but… what do you say we go to Kovelsky's, for all times sake and… we see how we can work all this out? »

I have to say I was glad that Happy was the one to take the first step. She's the one I knew for the longest time, so she was the one I was the most disappointed in when they all turned their back on me. I always thought that she was like me, in terms of emotions, and that she understood why I dealt with things the way that I do. I wanted to tell her all this, and to ask her why she let me down when I gave her what she always wanted, a shelter and a family. But I decided to leave that talk for another time. I looked at Paige, who remained silent the whole time and she gave me an encouraging smile.

« Kovelsky's sounds okay. We'll see about… everything else later. »

So here we were, dining all together, laughing about how some of us almost died today, just like before, like nothing ever happened. As Paige took my hand under the table, I even wondered if I didn't imagine all of this. But then the song in the background switched to another one.

 _« Don't go breaking my heart…_

 _I couldn't if I tried… »_

I recognized it immediately and suddenly everything felt so overwhelming. Everything I went through with the team, with Paige from when I first laid eyes on her in that dinner until that horrible fight a few weeks ago came back to my mind. I remembered every word of it.

I started to find it hard to breath so without a word I got up and went outside to catch some fresh air. Paige quickly followed me and I didn't have to say anything for her to understand.

« We should sing together again sometime. _»_ she said as she was soothingly rubbing my back, her hand going up to my neck and then brushing my hair.

I chuckled at the idea.

« Yeah right. So I can make a fool of myself again. »

« You didn't make a fool of yourself last time! You know you're actually a good singer. And I'm not saying that because you're my boyfriend. »

It had been a long time since she didn't call me her boyfriend. It felt nice to hear that again.

 **Paige's POV**

We stayed quiet for a while, just looking in the same direction together, but I was actually looking for my words. Because I knew that Walter rushed outside because of the song, and everything that was attached to it. He told me he didn't understand the lyrics at the time, but I'm guessing that it made sense to him since then. And I'm the first one to feel overwhelmed when I hear a song that reminds me a particular moment of my life, especially when the words speak to me.

Even if things were better now, I did broke his heart. I let him down when he trusted me enough to open to me like he never did with anyone else, and I still felt terrible about it.

« You know Walter, about the song… »

« Let's get out of here. » he said at the exact same time I started talking.

« What ? »

« Let's get out of here. Let's do something together, just the two of us. We could go on a trip for a few days. »

It wasn't like him to be so impulsive. And as much as I liked the idea of going away with him at this exact moment, I had to be the reasonable one.

« We can't just leave like that Walter. This kind of things need to be planned, there is Ralph and… »

« Then we could just go take a walk on the beach. You said that you wished you could take a walk on the beach with me without me doing lectures about everything we see. I want to do that. I want to be better at everything that made you feel like I wasn't good enough. »

I wanted to tell him that he'd always been good enough, that he was perfect to me and that I loved when he was when he was getting all excited over scientific stuff that I didn't understand. Because it made him so cute, and that it was one of the thing that made me fall in love with him, and that I definitely didn't mean everything I said in the garage. But I don't know why these words wouldn't get out of my throat.

« What about the others? Should we go back inside and tell them we're leaving? » I simply asked.

« They're going to be fine. I… I know I can't stay mad at them forever. But one thing at a time. And right now I just want to be with you. »

It hit me how much I missed him. We only had been appart for two weeks, but things had been different since we started seeing each other again. It was getting better of course, but I really missed being with him without overthinking everything.

« Okay. Let's go. »

I saw on his face that he was a bit surprised. He probably half expected me to refuse. But then he gladly took my hand and we went away from the dinner without looking back.

A few minutes later, we were on the beach, our shoes removed to feel the warmth of the sand on our bare feet. Walter didn't say a word since we left, but I could see he was meditating on something, so I kept quiet too. Eventually, he indeed started talking.

« You know Paige… »

I was a bit apprehensive, that was true, but he probably misunderstood my look because he quickly stopped himself.

« Don't worry I'm not about to do a biology lecture. »

I never should have said that.

« Walter you know I didn't mean that. I love when you get caught up in scientific explanation, even if I don't understand half of it. That's one of the many things that made me fall for you. When I said… those stuff, I just wanted to hurt you, and that was unfair. I'm sorry. »

« Oh. Okay. Well that's uh… good to know I guess. I mean I'll still try to improve my… topics of discussions… Anyway what I was trying to say is that… you know this is the beach where… I let Megan go right? »

How could I forget that day. The first time I saw Walter being so vulnerable, when he totally collapsed in my arms. And then the beach. When he held my hand, watching his sister go. That was probably the most intense day of my life, and god knows I lived intense times with Scorpion.

« Yeah, I figured. »

« Well, I wanted to bring you here to answer your question. The one you asked at the shrink's before Cabe called. Because that's where I first understood the answer. Of course now I know that I loved you pretty much since the first time I laid eyes on you, but here is the first place where it made sense to me. It's where I understood that I needed you, and that you complete me. And again today, you helped me with the case, and then when I got… emotional at the dinner, I didn't have to explain you, you just knew what to say. Paige we make sense because you bring the calm and peace that I seek since I'm five years old, and I bring you… well I hope I can bring you the support and loyalty you never had. Because even if I made a mistake, I was, and will always be loyal to you, and to Ralph. »

I didn't know what to say, so I just kissed him. God I missed those kisses, the ones that expressed more than words. With other guys in the past, passionate kisses were a way to avoid talking, but with Walter it was the opposite. It was a way to communicate, show him how what I felt for him was beyond words.

He made it last a little longer before parting a little from me.

« I take this as an approval. »

« I shouldn't have even asked in the first place. The only thing that didn't make sense was being away from you. » I confessed.

Walter passed in arm around me and I rested my head on his shoulder, looking at the sunset.

« Now that we're back on tracks, team Waige has to work it's magic on rebuilding team Scorpion. And then after that we're definitely going on a holiday trip, you, Ralph and me. We deserve it, and he deserves it. »

I loved the idea, but for now my attention got caught by something else. I mean did he just say…

« Team Waige? »

Walter blushed all of a sudden, as I looked at him with a teasing smile.

« Uh that's just… Toby's name for… you know, Walter and Paige. I won't use that again, it's ridiculous. »

« I love it. » I simply declared, and I felt Walter relaxing.

Part of me wanted to forget everything that happened between Walter's lie and this exact moment, but the other part told me that I should always remember, so that I never make the same mistakes again.

But for now I was simply enjoying a sunset on the beach with my boyfriend, and nothing else in the world mattered.

 **The end.**

 _ **So I don't know, as I said the writing of this chapter was very fractured, I hope it still works.**_

 _ **I also previously said that after that I was going to continue Gravity, but I had another idea for a one-shot / short story following the end of season 4 so I'll probably do that first. Hoping it won't take me as long this time.**_

 _ **Thanks you for reading that story until the end anyway !**_


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